Diving w/ Sharks at the Downtown Aquarium in Denver

There’s a first time for everything in your life, especially when it comes to diving with sharks. The key is to make that first experience an impressionable one.

For me, I suppose that those first time experiences come a little more often than most, but hey, that’s why I’ve followed my dream of becoming a professional travel blogger. For instance, doing so opened a door for me to dive with sharks at the Denver Aquarium.

Obviously, I was a bit nervous, but hey, we’re jumping into controlled waters so how bad could it be? Between the warm, 75-degree water and very lively marine life, there was a lot going on. As it turned out, everything that I expected happened…and then some!

Shark diving Denver Colorado

I found it ironic that my first diving with sharks experience happened nearly 1,000 feet above sea level. Denver was the last place on Earth I ever expected to find shark diving opportunities, let alone with guys as big as these ones. When I got word that the Downtown Aquarium allowed Scuba certified divers to jump into their aquariums, it was not something I was going to pass up.

As the group of us (4 in total) readied ourselves in the changing room, we quickly scurried to the diving platform where we would then proceed to jump in our wetsuits and dive some 22-odd feet down into the water.

Just slightly warmer than the cool temperatures of the fresh water springs in Florida, the wetsuits kept us very warm to the point that whenever we were out of the water it actually became a little toasty.

Once we got fully submerged into the aquarium, we rested at the bottom of the tank where it was quite obvious the animals were very alive! Sharks swam around you, easily coming within arms reach, alongside various types of fishes and sea turtles.

Although they looked quite dangerous, you quickly realized they only came close enough to inspect, never taking a bite, of what’s in their home environment. 😉

I think the most interesting (and by far funniest) thing about the experience was brought to you by the massive sea turtle who lived there as well. He was quite persistent about swimming on top of any diver who came within range of his habitat then resting on our heads. It got to the point that our guide actually had to hold him back with a piece of pvc pipe!

After approximately 45 minutes of diving and scurrying around the bottom of the aquarium like sand crabs (after all, at this point we were literally at the bottom of the food chain), we slowly made our way back to the entrance of the aquarium.

The man-made reefs looked to be in spectacular shape and the animals surely made the place their home. From my experience handling/swimming with animals, they all seemed very relaxed in their spacious environments.

I would have to say that, for the first time diving with sharks, it was quite a relaxing experience. Overall, I’m really looking forward to taking the next step and diving with sharks in open waters. This will ultimately test my luck out…especially if Great Hammerheads are involved somewhere near the Bahamas!

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Ron Robbins has been traveling non-stop around the world since the founding day of his blog Active Planet Travels back in June of 2011. He has found most of his professional interests in being a travel blogger, television host, photographer & bizarre food enthusiast. Visit his site and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with his latest adventures around the world!